Types of Waste
What is a solid waste?
Any unwanted or discarded item that is not a gas or a liquid.
What is waste-to-energy incineration?
A method where MSW is burned to produce steam for heating or electricity.
What is producing less waste (waste reduction)?
The most sustainable first step in managing solid waste.
Two (2) types of landfills?
Sanitary and open.
True or false: compost waste is organic material that can be added to help plants grow.
True.
Waste produced by mines, farms, industries, construction, and demolition.
What is a sanitary landfill?
A landfill designed with liners, leachate collection systems, and gas vents.
What is cradle-to-cradle design?
Designing products so materials can be reused continuously instead of ending up in landfills.
True or false: Open landfills are rare in developed countries.
True.
True or false: Electronic waste is easy to manage.
False.
What is municipal solid waste (MSW)?
What is an open dump?
A field or large pit where garbage is dumped and sometimes burned, common in less-developed countries.
What is integrated waste management?
A coordinated strategy combining waste reduction and waste management.
Name a disadvantage of open landfills.
One (1) of: rodents, pollution, unregulated, hazardous waste.
Name an advantage of deep-well disposal.
One (1) of: safe when sites are chosen carefully, waste can be retrieved, low cost.
What is a hazardous (toxic) waste?
Discarded material that is toxic, corrosive, flammable, or capable of causing disease.
What is a leachate?
The liquid that forms when water filters through waste in a landfill.
What is a pay-as-you-throw program?
Charging residents based on the amount of trash they throw away.
What separates trash and leachate from groundwater in a sanitary landfill?
A liner system.
Name two (2) examples of harmful chemicals found in a home.
Two (2) of: cleaning, paint products, general, automotive.
What is electronic waste (e-waste)?
The fastest-growing solid waste problem involves discarded electronics like phones and computers.
Pumping liquid hazardous waste deep underground into porous rock formations.
What are bottle bills?
Laws requiring consumers to pay a deposit on bottles that is refunded upon return.
Name three (3) disadvantages of sanitary landfills.
Three (3) of: costly, loud/disruptive to people around it, greenhouse gases, encourages waste production, eventually leaks.
What are the three (3) priority levels of handling toxic waste?
Produce less, convert as much as possible, place the remainder in long term storage.